Civilized Culture!

Civilized Culture!
By Along Longkumer

The term culture is of popular usage in our daily lexicon although it can also be vague at times. In our Naga context, culture is essentially used to denote the way of life as practiced by our forefathers. The most common reference is therefore to our traditional knowhow; whether it is the way we work, cultivate our land, govern our villages or in general, live our lives. The other interpretation of culture is related to what has been described as a process of cultivation or improvement. Later the term culture has further developed to refer to ‘betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education’. It is perhaps this interpretation of culture that we will try and address in today’s column. There is no doubt that Nagas can be ‘more cultured, wiser and a better people’. We Nagas in particular lay great emphasis on our so called culture yet we have not been able to imbibe the qualities needed to become honest and peace loving citizens. This is despite the fact that more than 100 years have passed since Christianity and education came to us. We proclaim about transforming ourselves from darkness to light but there are many still groping in the dark. In many ways, we are far from being civilized.

Today our ‘Christian’ Naga society is afflicted by a culture of selfish interests, extortion, corruption and other offenses. There are many Nagas who are not willing to work and eat but would rather live off other’s hard earned money including the misuse of public funds meant for development. This is very discouraging for those who sweat it out daily and the socio-economic injustice that people suffer from because of corruption. The other concern is the destructive elements present i.e. those who do not care for peace, order, security and respect for the other. We have instances of people resorting to violence and destruction of property, both public and private. Recently there were reports of domestic violence, people damaging water supply pipes, which is common public property. There are also daily instances of unruly elements lighting fire to village forest land, private plantations or even physically destroying and even stealing the harvested produce.

Wherever you go, our people behave in a manner unbecoming of a civilized society. In short we are faced with a predicament where our value system has degraded to such a low while our institutions have also failed to perform. How do we build a culture of peace, human rights and good governance where justice, fair play, accountability become the order of the day? These are vital issues that will require a meaningful intervention by all concerned—from the tribal bodies to human rights group to mothers, church, youth, media, political parties and national workers. Let us pause for a moment and see where we have gone wrong. It is said that the quality of a civilization depends not on material equipment or the political machinery but on the character of its people. Perhaps it will be right to say that Nagas are in need of a revival and rebuilding some of the basic values of trust, honesty, civility, peace and non-violence. If we can do this, not only will it solve a lot of our problems, but we can become a better people and society.